MIGRATION EXPERIENCES OF TURKISH WOMEN - NOTES FROM A RESEARCHERS DIARY

The article reviews the migration experiences of Turkish women who wer e either involved in external migration or were exposed to migration b y being left behind upon the emigration of their husbands. It includes notes on statements made by some returning women and women whose husb ands returned home. The statements were encountered during a comprehen sive field survey conducted in Turkey. Since the literature on women a nd external migration is, in general, blinded by a view of migrant wom en as ''traditional'' regardless of their ethnic, regional, religious and other background variables, it is expected that their exposure to the ''modern'' western culture will automatically pave the way to thei r emancipation. The diary entries of statements made by migrant women portrayed in this article question such an axiomatic proposition by po inting to the significance of background variables and certain feature s of household structures.